Replacing Newteam Variflow

[Mitch]

I've just moved home which has a power shower fed by a Newteam Varispeed sited in our airing cupboard ... the pump is rated at 245Watts 5000rpm

1.5bar. While it is an adequate shower (in terms of flow rate ... I have not measured it) it does not seem that great for a power shower (this is my first!). My main concern is the noise and vibration it causes. We live in a modern house and the noise and vibration seems to pass all over. It is very very noisy ... probably as loud as a vaccum cleaner. We have no chance of taking a quick shower before my 2yr old wakes in the morning!!

After doing some research, I have decided that i'll probably replace it with a Stuart Turner pump. I suppose my question is, can I expect this to be much quieter? I am considering two models ... the Monsoon1.5 bar and the Monsoon 3.0 bar. Will there be much of a difference in the noise between the two? I am leaning towards the 3 bar model because I may fit another shower in my main bathroom (some time in the future) and would like to power this from the same pump. However, I dont want to overkill especially if it means more noise!

Any feedback greatly appreciated. Mitch

[Christian McArdle]

Depending on your budget, a much more expensive solution that would easily provide enough for your showers with no noise at all would be to replace your current gravity fed hot water cylinder with either an unvented cylinder (i.e. Heatrae Megaflo) or heat bank (i.e. DPS Pandora). Although this will cost several times the cost of the pump, it will provide power shower performance at all outlets. The Pandora is easily fitted, requiring the same skills as fitting the pump, but with more to do. The Megaflo is much less easy to fit, but provides even greater potential flow. All of this is provided your mains water flow and pressure is sufficiently good to be worth using.

Obviously, the pump is the easier, quicker and cheaper solution. However, if your hot water cylinder is an old grade 4 nearing the end of its life anyway, or is insulated with only one of those jackets, then it could even make economic sense.

As for the performance of the shower, with almost any shower pump, the limiting factor on flow rate will be the shower head and hose, (or possibly the mixer). Remove any flow rate limiting inserts and ensure you have a hose and head designed for power showers.

Christian.

[Tim Mitchell]

In article , Mitch writes

How do you keep your 2yr old asleep long enough to have a shower?!

We had a Newteam power shower pump in our previous house and the noise was objectionable. They are the cheapest of the cheap so I would expect the more expensive pumps to be quieter. I eventually stood our pump on a piece of MDF supported by a large foam block which did reduce the transmitted vibration, though not the actual noise.